Alice
by R.E.M. Master
Summary: Alice isn't human? The death of a beloved character? Who could it be?
1. Chapter 1

1

**ALICE**

**1**

The doctor bounced with every step and off his heels. He kept a smile beneath a bulbous nose, which perched a pair of green-rimmed coke bottle glasses. His motions were ecstatic. It had come finally the day to wake Alice. Suddenly, he slid on the waxed vinyl floor and pressed a supportive hand on the blue tinted walls. He gave a husky cough and shook his head left to right. _Good _he thought. Then he continued down the hall and finally an abrupt silence in front of Room B. A plaque painted a messy gold shine imprinted the name Dr. C. Gill. He touched the keypad buzzing at the side and pressed the letters W. Then took out a larger silver key fixed it into the keyhole that spiraled open within the door.

There was a pop and the metal buffed door opened. Impatiently he pushed on it and walked inside clicking his snakeskin boots. He walked towards Alice. She was sitting quiet on a soft red leather chair. The impression of the seat was deep and her hands sat to the ends of the arm rests. Her legs were tight with white stockings and her black polished shoes hung over the chair. She was dressed with a large lace collar above a straight but loose blue dress that came to her knees. The dress was buttoned and two little pockets below her white sash and a matching ribbon with a bow set to the left side her head. Her hair was bleached a gentle blond and her eyes were dyed a striking blue. The former lab room was fashioned into a bedroom overnight. Velvet draperies, printed rugs that ran across the room, a large bed layered in heavy quilts and soft pillows, dressers stained in deep wood browns, and a chest littered with pretty dolls. The room gave a glow to the paleness of her skin.

"Wonderful, too wonderful," said Dr. Gill analyzing the room.

"Alice," he called out, "Awake Alice." Her blues flicker and roll back to show the whites of her eyes then they fall back into place looking.

"Alice?" he called out.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

She rolled her head to the side and stared and identified Dr. Gill.

"Welcome back Alice!" cried the doctor dramatically. She stared back at the old man in his dark suit he was kneeling at the side of the armrest holding tight her limp arms and choking sobs at his lips.

"Come! Come!" he shouted excitedly and then straightened himself into good posture. "You must meet the good Lady. She has waited too long for you to wake," said the doctor. He slid his hand down her arm and tugged hard on her wrist.

She immediately jumped up and her black shoes tapped the floor. She leaned back and her round chin loped to the left where it rested on her shoulder. She stared curiously at the décor of velvets, reds, and the clutter of pretty dolls with painted lips and holes in their eyes as doctor pulled at her unmoving body.

_Curious_, thought Alice as she stared into a doll's black sockets. She went to reach for it, but Dr. Gill pulled again at her sleeve.

He commanded excitedly, "come Alice come." The doctor slapped a fat hand on his thigh several times and reluctantly she walked, but with her feet pointing slightly inwards. He held out his hand and she clutched his folding fingers.

He led her behind the bed and kicked his good shoe at the wall. Pop, pop and whoosh! The wall slid open and they walked into a tight hall with crowded pictures printed on the walls. He insistently pulled at her when she lingered on the lonely framed portrait of a purple cat with sharp yellow eyes. It had the largest smile with teeth baring white. They continued to walk the considerably endless hallway. She looked back when she thought to hear a seething snicker coming from behind.

At the end of the hall, a lean purple padded door with a gold leaf frame stood overbearing. It was at least ten feet tall. Alice watched the doctor as he knocked four times and the door opened anonymously. Alice saw no one on the other side.

The doctor looked her up and down. He bent down and patted the blue dress and pulled at the seams.

Alice curiously bent over and stared into his thick green-rimmed glasses. She felt Dr. Gill pull on her as he propped her straight and he pushed her quite suddenly at the small of her back. She leaned forward tripping and her blond hair followed after. Her shoes scuffed the floor and she stumbled past the purple padded door into a much larger room than which she initially had come from. It was a space quite large with a bed draped with purple sheets and colored with fresh red and white roses.

Dr. Gill looked towards the bed and called out, "Alice has come to play, Miss Lady."

"Finally!" a girl's voice called out annoyed.

Alice saw as head poked out from behind the purple drapes hanging over what appeared to be a bed.

The head shined with black hair pulled loose in curled pigtails. Her eyes were blue and squinting at Alice, measuring her. Lady's head pulled back under the drapes and there was a rustle and a hop then Lady's head attached to her thick body stuffed in a purple dress walked harshly towards her.

Choo! Alice looked to her side to find colored boxes with triangle and square patterns on them stacked near the bed and a train choo-chooing puffs of white smoke that ran fast on its rails. Surrounding the tracks Alice stared at the dolls, small ones and big ones, but with black eyes still settled in their sockets.

Lady walked up slow and loosely linked her polished fingers behind her back.

"Alice, come!" she said. Alice did not listen. Lady squinted her eyes hard and the doctor laughed nervously,

"She wanders, you see, it's natural of course she hasn't been awake for too …"

"ALICE!" Lady yelled.

Alice surprised by the shrill voice located the sound to where Lady stood.

Lady gave a smile._ Good_ she thought.

"You may leave," Lady commanded without looking at the doctor.

Dr. Gill looked around the room lingering for a moment and then he left behind the purple padded door. Behind the door he leaned on the wall breathed deep.

Alice walked forward and still with her toes pointed slightly inward and stood a couple feet in front of Lady.

Then Lady took a round finger and poked at Alice's tender cheeks.

"Ha ha that's funny", cried Lady, "You're practically real."

"Practically real," repeated Alice.

"Yes. Almost real," the Lady said.


	3. Chapter 3

3

**3**

Dead cabbages and cigar butts; Bosa smelled it in the air. The fume of yesterday's expiring meal still hovered above him. It stank and he felt congested. He fixed his black tie through the reflection of a small mirror. Flipping down his collar he rushed down the steps and could hear the heavy snores blowing out the door downstairs. He looked at it for a moment and then he turned to leave. He walked out. It wasn't any fresher outside, but it was relieving. He stepped over bums while they laid flat on the streets bathing under the dawn sky. Occasionally they'd sit up on their rumps stealing change off the littered cracks within the road, but it was fairly early in the day. As he walked down the streets he saw the crusted rails with peeling paint of the stairs that lead down to the sub train and decided to take it to the city rather than awaiting the unusually delayed flyer. He felt his front pocket and heard the crackling of cash and followed the stairs down to sub train tunnels.

He stands on the platform and down the south-end a glow appears dim and distant, but then it becomes bigger, larger, and brighter. He is entranced, staring, unblinking, and impatient, but then he hears a tuk on the platform. He looked down and watched a pebble bounce. It hits his unpolished leather shoes and then settles on the floor. Suddenly, a clatter of noise comes from behind. It sounded like hard rain, but he turned to find more than a few pebbles bouncing on the platform. He peered up and saw nothing, but a hallowed tile ceiling. He looked around. He and a woman clad in a tight blue dress stood alone in the platform of the sub train. The woman didn't seem to have noticed the pebbles, but she caught his eye and started to shift her weight uncomfortably, clutching her purse to her breasts. The sound of the train rumbled. He looked back at the pebbles, they were trembling. The little stones were clicking as the ground shook. He supposed it was nothing more than loose debris that had caked the ceiling.

_Dangerous_ he thought. He stepped away from the pebbles that collected around him, walking towards the edge. He stepped onto the yellow tape marking safe zone. The horn blares loudly as the silver train comes to a stop. A red light engulfs the station and all doors slide open. A feminine mechanical voice said, "Boarding, destination Yellow City." He approached a fairly empty cart and a waft of musty air breathed on him as he walked inside. "Doors closing," said the train. He sat back against the plastic seating. The wheels squealed and the train hiccupped jolting his body to the left. It ran down the tracks fast and angry. It was harshly dark as the train ran through the tunnel, but then light, the heated rays, hit the train once it entered the open sky.

The sky glows a bright orange and bits of yellow shined on its horizon. The train was rocking back and forth as it crossed the bridge. The river carried in itself a lustful deep blue where several ships tied to the docks played with the waves. He leaned close to the greasy window pane and stared out at the tall buildings sprouting at edge of the Forest. The Forest was vast. The trees within it were gigantic, living giants. At least ten grew taller than the tallest building built within Yellow City. These trees were ancient beings living through countless ages and once his mother had claimed they housed the clever spirits who tricked naughty children when they wandered too far. He shook his head.


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

The doors of the Area A building flapped open allowing entrance. Bosa walked inside and pinned his badge to his coat pocket.

"Bosa!" shouted a gray man.

"Yah Jay," he replied back.

"You're here early," said Jay.

"I need to get into the lab and check up on Alice's condition," Bosa breathed out with a yawn.

"So, you do know?" Jay asked curiously.

"Know what?" Bosa looked back at Jay and stared at his unshaven chin bristling thick and messy.

"Gill's got her awake right now," Jay had a frown on his face, "She's meeting Lady today, I believe. I bet that…."

Bosa looked towards the hallway of labs that run around the facility and walked away without another word. He walked with his unpolished shoes clicking quick and loud to Alice.

Bosa punched furiously at the keys and locked his key into the door as the spiral opened. He rushed inside Room B. "Alice!" he yelled out. The chair was empty. He went behind the bed where a hidden hallway connected to one of Lady's rooms. The door was already opened and he quickly walked inside. His eyes frantically searched for Alice, his little girl. As he got closer to the end of the hallway he felt a soft hand brush his cheek and then he fell. His head hit the ground hard and everything felt dark.

Time had passed before Bosa's eyes rolled. Blood! He can taste it in his mouth like copper. He tried to touch where his lips were supposed to be. He felt something soft and warm, but not his lips. The soft hand loosened its grip. He took a deep breath and lifted his weight with the heels of his palms pressed to the floor. His head burned and throbbed painfully. He softly ran his fingers through his hair and spat out a little blood. Then Bosa looked up into a pair of yellow eyes under enlarged lashes and then it was gone.He was alone in the dim hallway and stumbled onto his feet with his hand pushed against an empty white framed canvas and he could hear the faint laughter of something quite sinister.

Bosa heard footsteps ahead and then the figure of a darkly suited man with white hair combed back and a pair of green glasses.

"Dr. Gill," Bosa called out to the doctor.

The doctor ran with his boots echoing the dark halls. Dr Gill helped Bosa to his feet and walked him away from Lady's corridors.

"It's too late now," Dr. Gill said quietly.

"I saw something. I saw yellow eyes, but nothing else it was here and it took a hold of me..." Bosa trailed off as the doctor did his best to drag Bosa out of the tunnel. He could hear the doctor groan from under his weight.

Bosa tried to fix himself up and they both walked stumbling into Alice's room. Bosa laid out heavily on the floor and Dr. Gill leaned on the bed.

"My Alice," Bosa breathed out.

"I said it was too late. It was too late when you first brought her here and you know that. She isn't yours anymore. She can not even possibly recollect anything in her former life, you are no longer her father," Dr. Gill said.

"I know. I don't regret bringing her. This project was what brought her back. It's just I wanted to see her alive again," Bosa breathed out.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

A train was running on its tracks away from the Back Hills and to Yellow City, the island that housed the Honor and his daughter, Lady. They ruled that land, but they did not cross the forest which lied on the outskirts. On the train, a boy with brown curls and brown complexion sat quiet while his father lay against the seating with his eyes closed and with rough arms held tight around a long bag which leaned heavy across his chest. The boy stared at the seat across from him. It was occupied by a curious stone the size of his little finger. It had not been there when he entered the cart two stops ago. Suddenly the train made an abrupt stop.

"Yellow City," it said.

"Let's go Terry," said his father.

Terry watched the faceless stone roll side to side and then followed after his father. The little stone bounced off the seat aimed into the pocket of the boy's coat.

The boy turned back to where he had seen the stone, but it was not there. He went after his father's side and started to think less about the stone.

Terry walked along side his father. He stretched his small legs far to match his father's stride. But then his father stopped.

"I need you stay here for now," said his father.

Terry stayed silent, but nodded.

His father smiled and left without a kiss or a hug.

Terry was alone amongst a crowd of people he didn't know. He stood there blocking people's path and then he felt something tickle his thigh through his coat pocket. He reached in pulled out a smooth stone. He remembered it was the same stone that sat across from him during the train ride. He rubbed it and then it slipped through his fingers and pounced down a narrow alleyway. Terry ran down into the alleyway following that bouncing stone. The way was narrow and he tripped a little over discarded bottles along the way. The alley ended onto a dirt path that ran around the houses and it was yellow. On the other side of the road was the lush blades grew a slant towards the forest. The trees were big and Terry watched the stone bounce off the road, crossing over the city limits and into the forest


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

Lady stared at Alice with a smirk high on her face.

"Let's play a game, you and me. I want you to go get that ball over there." Lady pointed to the far corner of the room and there sat a small pink ball.

Alice walked over to get it and as she went to pick it up the ball it began to roll. It rolled and bumped softly against the wall. Alice walked again towards it, but as she tried to touch it, the ball rolled between her legs.

"Silly thing," Alice said. She followed after it and could hear Lady laughing behind her. Alice was then running after the ball. The pink ball rolled fast and then it slowed at Lady's feet.

The pink ball unfurled and had become a small creature with a tail and a pointed snout. The Lady laughed. The creature then rolled back into a ball. Lady was laughing out loud with her lips stretched into an 'O.'

"Stupid girl," Lady cried out.

The lights of the room began to flicker. Lady looked to the lighting and began to fuss angrily. Lights went out.

"LIGHTS!" shouted Lady, red under the dark.

Alice saw a pair of yellow eyes float within the darkness and felt a soft hand tugging gently and she followed curiously. The angry shouts of Lady had become distant and Alice came out Lady's room like a dream and into what looked like a forest. It was a forest of green. Trees to her left, right, and behind, but before her was a great tree. It was high and could not see the top. The thickest scars were bored into the trunk. She heard the crushing of dry leaves and a small boy with brown hair and brown skin and a coat too big for his size run out after a little stone that bounced high off the ground.

Then BANG! The sound vibrated the branches and shook the leaves. The disturbed birds flapped harshly at the wind as they took off into the air like a dark cloud.

Alice fell with the power of the shot. She was on her back and arms twisted above her sides. For some time her eyes were rolling in their sockets, confused. Then regaining control of her arms Alice pushed herself upright. She looked down. Blood! It was red on her hands and black on her chest. She didn't feel the pain. She only felt the pressure of the heavy lead burning in her heart. She was knelt on the ground and looked deeply into her hands, digging with her eyes for nothing. Blood poured from thin metal tubes detached from her. It flowed like thick wine. Alice picked up the folds of her dress and started to wipe the red off her hands.


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

Terry, startled by the shot heard from the gun ran into a thick bush. A large man came running out from through the forest. The man's breath was harsh and heavy. Terry held on to his own breath. He recognized the man, his dark mustache, and his rough arms. It was his father with a large gun in his hands.

Terry shivered for the first time in seeing his father. His father was mad in the face. His eyes were very large as he stared down at the bleeding girl. His nose flared and his lips curled.

Terry then heard harsh whispers. Terry looked up and saw nothing, but the trees above him. They chided furiously. It was the trees and the voices angry. Terry cowered to the ground as the trees spoke.

"When life dies it must stay dead," the trees said.

"Kill it for it is most inhuman."

"The rights to live are not yours and the great tree, the mother, condemns you."

"You cannot live."

"You, Alice, must die."

Terry realized that they, the trees, were speaking to the girl. She was in the center of all their anger and yet she seemed oblivious. She stopped wiping her hands and she looked up curiously. Her blue eyes and her paled skin were radiated by the sun peaking through the openings between the leaves. Terry saw his father raise the gun once more with the butt of it against his shoulder and aimed at the girl they called Alice. Terry looked away, but then saw the stone that had bounced anxiously near him run out from the bush and hit hard against his father's leg. His father shouted and turned around and he could see the small rustling from where Terry hid.

His father in a mad haze went towards the bush, but the stone tackled his father and he fell to the ground with a large thump. Terry stared at his father unconscious. The girl that sat bleeding had stopped moving. Her body was stiff and cold. Terry through the thickness saw a large purple cat walk out from the thinness in the air. It was striped with two types of purple and it had a huge smile under a pair of yellow eyes. It walked towards the girl, Alice. Its tail ticked behind it and the cat so suddenly looked to the bush with its staring grin. The little stone jumped and it floated up towards the cat and rode on its back.

"What trickery!" shouted the trees.

"The cat! Traitor!"

"Cat, this you will regret," whispered the trees.

Terry was scared and confused. The cat looked away with his unmoving smile and padded on the soft grass with Alice dragged along into the forest. Both their figures disappeared into the dark as the cat chuckled.

"A game, just a game," it said in the dark.


End file.
